


Floral Mother and Floral Son

by minyoongurt



Series: Riordanverse Drabbles & Oneshots [8]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Homophobia, Light Angst, M/M, Mother-Son Relationship, Persohone loves her stepson, nico gets a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:08:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27084637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minyoongurt/pseuds/minyoongurt
Summary: Persephone wasn’t the terrible stepmother she was assumed to be.She loved her stepson like he was her own.
Relationships: Hades/Persephone (Percy Jackson), Nico di Angelo & Persephone, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: Riordanverse Drabbles & Oneshots [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1854148
Comments: 7
Kudos: 281





	Floral Mother and Floral Son

**Author's Note:**

> Not proofread
> 
> *all characters belong to Uncle Rick!*

It was a quaint garden Persephone had. It was a miracle she was able to grow such vast and beautiful scenery in the depths of the underworld. The lack of sunlight should have affected her floral creations and beautiful greenery, but Hades would never allow that to happen. He would never allow his wife to lose her creations to the cold, sickening darkness of the Underworld. 

In the colder months when she spent her days in the Underworld it tended to get lonely, which wasn’t unusual, she was used to it. Spending her days with her husband and mother, having to tolerate them for all of eternity. She had no demigod children to visit, to bless, to watch over. No one to visit her. She was a woman of faith, she wouldn’t dream of being with a mortal man. 

She didn’t quite enjoy when Hades mingled around with mortal women, but thankfully he had been loyal to the agreement between him and his two brothers.

She believed that until she met Nico di Angelo, a boy lost in time. 

She didn’t quite like the boy at first, until she found out his origin. 

Their Mother killed by that nightmare of a god named Zeus, Nico and his sister placed in the Lotus Hotel by her husband, only to then lose his sister as well. The more she saw him, the more she felt the urge to protect him, to show him kind, motherly love. To protect him. He was just a child, he had so much to live for. 

She vowed to protect him.

——

Nico didn’t spend as much time in the Underworld as he used to. 

After the giant war he spent a week in the palace, helping Persephone with tending to her garden rather than the hellish tasks Hades usually have him. He told her that he had met a boy, a boy who made his stomach fill with skeletal butterflies and his skin tingle every time they touched. 

“He’s the kindest person I’ve ever met.” He told her as he trimmed the leaves on a rose bush. “It took a lot to convince him to let me come here. He’s a doctor and he gets really paranoid over my health.”

“Ah,” she nodded, helping a struggling pomegranate tree to flourish. “When will I meet him?”

Nico groaned dramatically. “I don’t know. I don’t even know if Dad will be okay with...with whatever is going on. Plus, Will is a son of Apollo, he’ll shrivel up into a raisin down here.” He sighed, beginning to walk through the garden, brushing his fingers against various flowers as he passed them. 

Persephone pursed her lips, watching her stepson. She let out a small sigh, taking careful steps over to him. This poor boy. She held open her arms for him. 

“Come here, dear.” 

Nico looked up from where he was rubbing a black rose petal between his fingers. He bit the inside of his cheek before stepping into the goddess’s arms, hoping he didn’t seem too eager to do so. 

Her arms encircled him. One hand rested on the center of his back and the other tucked his head under her chin, cradling the back of his head carefully. She held him tightly. 

“Your father  _ loves _ you. You are his pride and joy. You bring honor to his name. Nothing will make him love you any less.” She told him, her thumb brushing back and forth against his head. “Plus, I’ll turn him into a tulip if anything goes wrong.”

Nico let out a small laugh against her chest. “Is Father a tulip?”

“No, my dear, he hates tulips, but that’s what he deserves if he won’t accept you.” Persephone said, brushing through her stepson’s dark hair for just a moment before letting him go. “Take your time, my dear, there is no rush to tell him. It will be our secret.” She said as she turned, plucking a perfectly ripe pomegranate from it’s branch. “Would you like some?”

Nico winced, shaking his head at the sight of the fruit. 

Persephone nodded, turning the pomegranate into an apple. “How about this? You must eat, child, before my mother sees you like this. Cereal gets very boring, trust me.”

The demigod stared at the apple for a second before taking it from the goddess. “Thank you.” He said softly, taking a bite.

Persephone smiled, turning to walk through her garden with her stepson in tow, munching on his apple. 

She vowed to never allow his father, or any other god, no matter how big or small, hurt him again. As long as she was Queen of the Underworld, this young demigod would never be alone. 

——

“Since when do you garden?” Will asked as he approached the Hades Cabin, spotting his boyfriend in the dirt planting flowers around the porch. 

“They’re for Persephone.” Nico grumbled, patting the soil around the blue petunias. 

“Persephone?” The blonde asked, going to sit on the porch steps. “Did she curse you to be a gardener or something?” 

Nico scoffed, shaking his head. “You’re an idiot, Solace.” He grumbled, no real bite behind his words. “She’s been looking out for me these past few years. She’s like an actual mom to me.”

Will softened up at that, a dimpled smile coming to his face. “That’s sweet.” He got up, bouncing over to his partner. “Can I help?” He asked, sitting down in the dirt next to Nico. 

“Don’t you have a shift at the infirmary in like...ten minutes?”

The son of Apollo shrugged. “Yeah, but I can ask Kayla to cover for me. The infirmary has been really slow recently. It’ll get wild when we do capture the flag on Saturday.” 

Nico gave his boyfriend a small smile. He picked up a little pot of pale blue chrysanthemums, giving them to Will. “You can plant these on the other side of the stairs. 

“You’ve got a lot of blue and purple flowers.”

“I have to keep up my ghostly aesthetic, Solace. Shut up.”

He had to pay her back for the endless hours of love and comfort she had given him. It was a small gesture, but he was trying his best. 

  
  


And Persephone loved him no matter what.


End file.
